Please Don't Die!

Dear Blog,

I was a little nervous about logging on...I didn't want to shock you into sudden death by causing a heart attack, stroke or other life threatening, death causing, phenomenon. Can you imagine if that happened??? I probably wouldn't even give you the time of day to write your obituary and then...well, I would feel completely terrible about the pain and suffering I caused you in mortal life AND in the hereafter.

All I can say is....I'm sorry and I regret not being better about blogging. I know you have serious issues with Facebook. Please do not be jealous of FB anymore. I have found that FB gives me instant gratification and you, well....you are kind of high maintenance and I don't always have the time or energy to give you the attention you need or deserve!

I have made some new goals and I will take it one blog post at a time. To show my commitment to you, I'm going to create a list of events that have happened since my last post in May of 2009.

NOTE: My plan is to make each item on the list into their own post. Some of the items don't require pictures, a long explanation or more details. Thanks for understanding...too much blogging too fast may push me over the edge.

1. May: Chris thankfully was admitted into the California Bar Association. Thanks honey for your brilliance and all of the hard work that went into your preparation and study for the bar exam. I knew that you would pass--didn't even doubt it once!


2. June: Rebecca Shoff and David Criddle were married for all time and eternity in the Manti Temple. This was such an amazing experience and I'm so grateful we were able to attend. We're so happy for both of you and I'm especially happy I get to have another Criddle-in-law!!!

3. July: My sweet little Caroline Fern turned two years old on July 1st. This for sure will have it's own post with details and pictures included!

4. July: The kids and I drove to Utah to celebrate the 24th of July in Fairview and spend time with our family there four-wheeling, rodeoing and we attended the Cook Family Reunion in Fountain Green. Chris later flew out and joined us for the Shoff Reunion. All my boys and I flew to Hawaii and stayed with Uncle Mark and Aunt Debbie. It was our first official family vacation--except for Caroline who had a vacation of her own getting to stay with Grandmas, cousins, and aunts and uncles. Believe me, she had the time of her life and so did we. Pictures soon to come!

5. August: Scotty-Wotty-Scooter-Tucker-Shoff turned four years old on August 25th. We had an amazing time celebrating at Disneyland...a birthday he'll never forget! Pictures soon to come!

6. September: School started. Hayes is in 3rd grade, Ty in 1st grade, Scott in preschool and Caroline started preschool. Pictures soon to come!

7. October: I had an amazing birthday that we spent at Disneyland with our good friends Damon and Rachel Afualo and we met up later with Heather and Bart Sadleir. NO KIDS! Words cannot express how much fun I had. I felt like a little kid. Don't get me wrong I love seeing Disneyland through my children's eyes, but I didn't get to go as a kid so I really enjoyed doing the things I wanted to do! Pictures soon to come!

8. October: Halloween was so much fun! All four of my little ghouls were all about trick-or-treating this year. Caroline was a trick-or-treating fiend! She loved it!!! Video footage and pictures soon to come!!!

The last six months have been amazing! I'm excited to finally be able to share it with you, my dear blog. Now that I've taken the first step...maybe it won't be as hard to do a better job at keeping you updated.

Love always (even though I may disappear for months at a time),

Dianne